


the beaten path

by Gerbilfriend



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Energy based pokemon, Gen, Meeting the team., Non binary original character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 10:00:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20329294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gerbilfriend/pseuds/Gerbilfriend
Summary: Every Pokemon trainer has a story of how they met their team, it's the most well beaten path in pokemon training.





	the beaten path

**Author's Note:**

> I used world building from keleri because I think it is super cool. I.E. Pokemon are energy based beings instead of being flesh and blood that can communicate telepathically. Theres a ton of other cool stuff and you should totally read keleri's fics!
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintersheir/pseuds/keleri

Kyo met Shelly when they were nine years old.

That's probably why they named a Shelos Shelly. Nine year olds should not be allowed to name anything.

Seriously.

Here’s how it goes: 

Kyo goes on a field trip to Floaroma town with their classmates. One of them manages to piss off a hoard of combee.

The class scatters while the teacher’s pachirisu tries to get things under control.

But there is one of the teacher and fifteen odd combees.

So running is necessary. 

They run until the end of the flowers.

Kyo dove into the water. 

Got swept along the current.

They scrambled helplessly against the current, trying to get themselves back under control.

Finally they manage to grab onto a root. Pull themself out, soaked and grimy. 

But unstung.

They spend a moment staring at the rushing river before starting on their walk back.

All they have to do is follow the stream.

Their clothes are soaking wet. 

And it's tiring. 

_ How far did the river take me anyways.  _ They find themselves wondering, worrying as they walk.

Surely someone has noticed they were gone by now.

Maybe they should stop moving and make it easier. 

They’re tired. 

Kyo refused to cry as they sat, soaking wet. 

They weren’t a baby anymore. They weren’t crying.

They were just rubbing their eyes. 

Something nudged their side.

_ Are you okay?  _

It sounded young in their head. Kyo glanced down. 

It was a shelos. 

“I’m fine”. If they said it enough it was true. They were fine. 

_ Humans don’t normally come down this way.  _

“I got swept down by the currant, sorry if I’m in your space”. They had already seen what happened when humans went into pokemon spaces. Even weak ones could be dangerous. 

_ It's okay. What’s your name? _

“Kyo. Kyo Nanako. Do you have a name”.

The shelos made a series of sounds. 

“I don’t think I can pronounce that”, Kyo admitted, blushing. It wasn’t fair but while most Pokemon had minor psychic abilities even if it wasn’t their main type humans had no such advantages. “Is there something I can call you”.

Kyo thought that was a shrug. It was hard to tell with the different physiology. 

_ You pick. _

Kyo had no idea. Then it hit them. “Shelly, does that work?”. It was simple and had a nice theme. It was a good name for a shelos

_ Shelly. I like it.  _

“Do you want to call me something?”. Kyo offered.

_ Call you something? _

“It only seems fair, I name you, you name me”. At least Kyo thought that sounded fair, it wasn’t like Shelly’s mouth could really pronounce their name either.

The sounds coming out of the mouth were, once again, unpronounceable. 

They still sounded nice. 

“Do you want pronouns?”, Kyo offered. If they were doing it they were doing it all the way.

_ Pronouns? _

“Yeah, like they or he or she or xe or hir, stuff like that. I use they pronouns cause I’m non binary and I like them. I don't know if shelos have the same genders that humans do”. Kyo probably should have paid more attention in class.

_ What does gender do? _

“I think it has to do with babies?”. Kyo wasn’t that clear on it themself.

_ Don’t babies just come from eggs when you donate enough energy. _

That didn’t sound right but Kyo didn’t know enough to explain. They would ask their mother when they got home.

_ I like he pronouns. They sound fun when you say them. _

“Awesome”. Kyo wanted to tell their mother. They had made a friend.

So there.

But their mother wasn’t here. They were stuck on a bank who knows where.

Their eyes prickled. They were cold and tired and their arm hurt worse.

_ Are you okay. _

“No. I’m lost and cold and they said to wait for people to find us but I’m tired of that. I was swept down the river because Alex was a jerk and bugged the combees and I jumped in the water to avoid getting stung and now my legs hurt and my arms hurt and it's just so annoying”. They were nearly screaming by the end.

Water was coming from their eyes. They didn’t like it.

They hated crying.

_ I could try to carry you upstream,  _ Shelly offered,  _ you’re not that big. _

Kyo was tired of waiting for a rescue. “That would be awesome. I don’t want to be a bother through”.

_ I want to try, we’re friends right? _

“Totally”. Shelly was awesome. There was no way they weren’t friends.

The ride up was totally different from the ride down, Shelly had a bit of an odd texture to him and Kyo had been afraid they would crush the soft Pokemon but instead Shelly towed them along while they hung on to his spikes, kicking to add extra momentum. 

The cold water even helped to numb the aching arm. 

Even through Kyo found themselves panting as they worked their way up river, it wasn’t so 

bad.

It was actually pretty fun.

It was infinitely better than sitting and waiting hoping that someone would come.

They made it back to the bank. 

Kyo stopped kicking for a moment.

Was that their mother. Had their mom been called!

She had been.

_ Prefect,  _ Kyo thought gleefully as she started back up, quickly regaining the water that they had lost. 

“There's my mom,” Kyo said, ignoring the water splashing into their mouth. “Can I carry you?”.

_ Seems fair to me.  _

Shelly felt jiggly to the touch as Kyo picked him up in their arms. “Mom, Mom”.

“Kyo, I was so worried”. 

Kyo stepped out of the way of their mother’s hug. They felt bad but Shelly was in their arms. 

“Sorry Mom,'' they meant that for both things before starting to explain, “I wanted to avoid the combees so I got into the water and dove down stream and I waited but nobody came and then I met Shelly and he helped me and we’re going to be best friends forever!”. 

Their Mom was making interesting faces.

There was the relieved face but also the-Kyo-you-are-in-big-trouble face as well as the explain-yourself-Kyo face.

That was okay. Kyo knew this would work out.

* * *

Again, nine year olds should not be allowed to name anything. Nor should almost ten year olds.

Not only does that lead to names like Shelly but names like Zuzu as well.

With Shelly there was a defining moment, meeting on the bank. They knew they were going to be a team after that.

Zuzu was slower than that.

While Kyo was not allowed to immediately keep Shelly, they did promise to visit. This lead to them passing through wild territory quite often.

Part of Kyo knew she should feel bad for all the work that their mother had to do to arrange for all the traveling.

But Shelly was important.

So Kyo worked extra chores and saved up money and bided their time.

One of the places on the way to Shelly’s river was a cave. 

One of the things Kyo had gotten from an odd job were spare berries. It became a habit for them to leave berries in the cave when they passed through.

And as they did it they noticed one zubat in particular liked to come. 

One day, where Kyo had managed to stay mostly dry by staying on they bank as they brain stormed with Shelly for when they left home they were half way through the caves when they realized they dropped their map.

_ Looking for this.  _

The voice had Kyo turning as they saw the zubat they had seen around, the map clenched in it's claws.

“Thank you. Mom would kill me if I lost this”.

That was how it started. 

After that Kyo found themselves saving some berries, knowing that the zubat would be waiting for them.

It was nice.

It was a good way to pass the last month of waiting, better than watching classmates go and come back, full of their own stories while Kyo was stuck waiting.

Then they turned ten.

They had stayed overnight in Floroma and the first thing they did the next day was offer Shelly the pokeball they had saved for.

After that they rushed through the cave, planing. It was finally time.

_ What are you rushing for? _

Kyo froze. In their haste they had almost forgotten their friend. “I’m going to challenge the Oreburgh gym to show Mom I can leave”.

_ Does that mean you won’t be coming back through this cave again? _

Kyo felt their heart sink. It did. “Yeah, I won’t be coming through so much anymore”.

_ I will miss you. _

“Come with me”, Kyo blurted out. 

They didn’t regret it. “Come with me and I’ll show you there's more than this cave. There’s so much out there. Mountains and rivers and forests and swamps and volancons and plains. I’m going to see it all. Come with me”.

_ I need time to think. Will you come back one more time. _

It wasn’t a no. “I’ll come back when me and Shelly beat Roak”. 

It was a promise they kept with pride.

* * *

Loesing sucked. Kyo tried to keep their head up for Shelly and Zuzu even through it was hard.

It was their fault. If they were only a better trainer. They had done so well at Oreburgh and then Veilstone.

Kyo hadn’t felt like this before. 

They were starting to understand why people went home. 

It sucked.

They had run out of Eterna and hadn’t even bothered to try the gym in Hearthome, somehow, even through Zuzu had evolved for them they still managed to lose.

It sucked.

_ We will be okay.  _ Shelly kept saying. Kyo tried to believe their friend but it was hard.

So hard. 

_ Next time I’ll be stronger.  _ Zuzu had promised.

It wasn’t Zuzu’s fault in the first place. 

Zuzu had been strong enough. It was Kyo that was the weak link.

Then Kyo heard a commotion. 

“-me that”. It did not sound friendly.

They started to run, speeding up as they hit the down hill, sliding on the tall grass.

There were two men chasing a Chansey, trying to catch it. Demanding it heal them.

“Leave them alone”, Kyo shouted. It didn’t want to be caught, that was obvious. 

“You gonna make us”. One of them said, smirking. 

Kyo forced themself to breath. They had lost one battle.

That didn’t mean they would lose them all. And not against these third rate trainers.

Besides, this wasn’t a formal battle.

“Shelly, stop them from moving. Zuzu, hypnosis”, Kyo called as their partners burst from their balls.

It worked. For the most part.

The mightyena slashed at the back of their leg as Kyo shoved the chansey out of the way. 

Someone screamed. 

It was Kyo. 

The pain burned as the mightyena crashed, body checked out of the way by a glowing Shelly.

Later Kyo would feel guilty that they hadn’t seen their partner evolve. At the time they were just in too much pain to focus on that when there was so much else going on.

The chansey had turned around. 

“You don’t have to, Run”, Kyo managed to gasp out as they held their jacket to their leg with one hand while they called for help.

It hurt but it was mainly glancing. They would be fine.

Then there was the hospital.

Their Mom actually came out for it. 

Which probably shouldn’t have been much of a surprise, Kyo being ten and all. 

Shelly stuck close to them as they limped down the hall, trying to regain their normal walk. “Thanks for the save”. If Shelly had been a little slower.

_ Always.  _

“Do you like your new form?”. 

Shelly had a hard shell on his back now, and he was so much bigger. Kyo didn’t think they could pick him up anymore.

But he looked awesome. 

_ I do. I will be much stronger now when we return to gyms. _

“You think we should?”.

_ Of course. You promised to show me the world. In order to do that we need to be strong. _

Kyo thought of the gym battle. Thought of the heated moments where their blood was running down their leg and nothing made sense. 

They had saved the chansey. 

It was that simple. Kyo laughed. They couldn’t help it. “You’re right Shelly”.

The legal producing was taking so long. Kyo wanted to turn back and challenge Hearthome already. 

But there was one good side. 

They got to talk to the chansey they helped. 

“Are you okay?”.

_ Am I okay!  _ The chansey shrieked into Kyo’s head,  _ I saw what that mightyena did to your leg. _

And now Kyo had a headache as well.

Ouch.

“I’m fine. The doctor just said to go light on it”.

_ That’s good. Do you want me to see if I can do anything. Humans are hard, too fleshy, but I can try. _

“Do you want to?”.

_ Why do you keep asking that? _

“Because it's your choice”. 

Just then the buzzer sounded. It was time to testify.

“Let's do this”, Kyo offered with a fist bump. Then nearly fell with the force of the Chansey’s return fist. 

It was a pretty clear cut case, thankfully. But it still took until the end of the month for it to be over. 

When Kyo came out of their last hearing they found the chansey talking to Zuzu and Shelly. 

“What are you guys up to”, they asked easily as they came over. 

_ Take me with you.  _ The chansey demanded.

“Are you sure. I’m not always a great trainer and-”.

Bop. 

Kyo blinked at their nose. The chansey had just bopped them.

_ I want to go with you, and don’t ask if I’m sure. I am. _

“Do you have a name then?”.

_ Blair. He/him pronouns please. _

“Works for me”. It was probably smart of Blair not to trust Kyo with coming up with a nickname. Zuzu and Shelly spoke for themselves. “Welcome to the team”.

* * *

  
  


Hearthome had been nice.

Well as nice as ghosts could be. 

But Kyo had their third badge. And that meant adventure. 

Their eleventh birthday passed while they wandered. 

But alas. Many places were barred to trainers with out four badges. And Kyo wanted to explore more.

So it was time to go to Pastoria. 

Where they found out about the Great Marsh.

_ Are you sure this is a good idea?  _ Blair asked, eyeing the sign dubiously. 

_ What happens if you get hurt. We won’t be there.  _ Zuzu chimed in.

“Don’t worry so much you guys, I can look after myself”, Kyo reassured their team. “Besides a place like this is designed to be safe. You guys look after each other, okay?”.

_ Now who's worrying?  _ Blair asked snarkily. 

“Point”.

Even so, walking through the marsh was lonely. Kyo hadn’t realized just how used to their team they were.

It was to quiet without them.

They kept reaching for their pockets, only realizing that there was nothing there. 

Bored, Kyo sat down on a log.

It squished but was still floating so they couldn’t be bothered to care. Why had they thought this was a good idea? 

“You want this”. They ideally offered a bait ball to a croagunk they saw in the corner of their eye. “I promise I won’t throw anything at you”.

It watched them for a moment.

_ Thank you.  _

“Your welcome. Got any friends who want some food?”.

_ Always.  _

Then it let out an ear breaking croak. Kyo could totally see where that part of the name came from. 

_ Food.  _

Kyo looked in the water by their feet. They were pretty sure that was a carvanha. 

“It's just bait balls”, Kyo said, “I couldn’t bring anything else I made in”.

_ Still food.  _

The ball was gone in seconds. 

“So how long have you lived here”, Kyo found themselves asking as they divided out the food. 

_ Our whole lives.  _ They choursed.

Kyo shuddered. Ten years in Oreburgh had been enough for them. “Can you show me around then, it's a little lonely traveling on my own. Normally I’m with my team”.

They were easy to talk about. It was about an hour in while Kyo was knee deep in swamp gunk, that they realized they had forgotten to introduce themself. “I’m Kyo”.

_ Jana,  _ the croagunk offered.

_ Crash.  _

They were actually names that Kyo could say. That was a surprise. They sounded like human names.

“Did you pick them?”.

_ Some of the workers did a while back. We liked them through. Crash totally deserves hers. _

_ Hey. _

“What's the story”.

_ Crash kept hitting all the boats. And the posts. And the people. And me.  _

_ Well if you were two faced than maybe they wouldn’t have nicknamed you Jana,  _ Crash retorted before explaining,  _ she kept pretending that she hadn’t already gotten treats. And if the workers didn’t give her anything Jana would steal their stuff. _

_ They were calling me Janus at first but I’m a girl.  _ Jana sounded very proud.

Kyo made note of that. “Both of you use she/her?”. 

Jana nodded. 

Crash bobbed. 

_ How did you get your name?  _ Jana asked as Kyo clambered over a tree root.

“I think my mom just liked it”. Kyo said with a shrug.

Then fell into the water.

Not their best idea. 

_ Good job.  _ Jana said dryly.

“Shellys a water type, I’m used to getting wet”, Kyo said as they shook the swamp water out of their ears. 

That led to another tangent as Kyo told stories about their team and before they knew it the bell was rining.

“It was nice to meet you two but I have to go”.

_ What do you mean. We’re going with you.  _ Crash stated just as they both disappeared into red light. 

Kyo looked at their pocket. 

It was open.

Somewhere along the line Jana had stolen their safari balls. 

_ Two faced indeed.  _

Somehow, Kyo couldn’t be bothered to care.

* * *

  
  


They made it two more years without catching other pokemon. Four badges was enough for quite a lot of Sinnoh.

Also Mom was worried and Kyo wanted to show that they had been keeping up with schooling.

Living at home was a lot harder with five Pokemon through.

They needed constant exercise. And they grew fast. 

Kyo spent more and more time in the mountains, even as they tried to stay near their home. 

It was just so loud in the city.

And people gave them looks if they had their entire team out. 

“Go”, Mom said one day as Kyo stared up at the mountain. “I know you want to”.

“I’m sorry”.

“You’re not”.

“I’m not. I am sorry for that through”. It wasn’t her mother’s fault that their home wasn’t their mother’s house anymore.

“You are what you are”.

“Love you”.

“You too”.

The only thing about leaving was that it meant they had to make a plan. Because a sit in one place job would not be for them. 

“I think we should try for a few more badges”. Most of the really involved jobs required at least eight. 

That was how they found themselves trekking to Snow Point City. 

And how they met their sixth pokemon.

The only one they really caught in a battle.

It attacked in the middle of the night, when Kyo was sleeping, leaning against Blair while Zuzu kept watch.

It lost in moments to Shelly, who drenched the campsite in muddy water.

Part of Kyo was proud of just how solid Shelly’s attacks were getting.

The rest of them was just drenched. That seemed to be a theme in their life.

Water.

_ Houndour.  _ Zuzu said dispassionately.

“Does it have a pack?”.

_ Doesn’t matter, shouldn’t have attacked us.  _ Blair said.  _ Now, I’m going back to sleep.  _

Kyo couldn’t.

Houndour were fire type. Kyo was about to take their team up a giant, snowy mountain.

It just fit so well.

They would ask when it woke up. There was no point wasting one of the few pokeballs they had gathering dust in their bag on a pokemon that would demand to be released.  _ _

The houndour woke just as the sun started to rise.

“Do you want to come with me”. Kyo knew they shouldn’t be so forward, but they had waited all night to ask.

_ Does it have too? _

_ Be nice Zuzu.  _ Shelly scolded. 

_ Fine.  _

“Sorry about them. You just startled Zuzu”, Kyo explained. “If you don’t want to thats fine but I would love if you came with me”.

_ I lost. _

“So. I’ve lost battles all the time. We all have. But we keep going anyways. I’m heading up to Snow Point for my fifth badge, if you want to come. I can’t promise we will never lose, but there are interesting places ahead”. 

_ Will you teach me to be as strong as them. _

“I will do my best”. 

Kyo offered the ball. 

_ Deal. _

Then, of course, because real life had no respect for drama Kyo had to call out the houndour. 

“Do you have a name?”

_ Not yet. _

“Do you want one”. It was rare, but Kyo had met a few pokemon who didn’t in the last year. She regretted not asking that before. 

_ Why not. _

Zuzu started snickering in the background.

Kyo wracked her brain, Hondini was a bad choice. They were drawing a blank. “Do you have a pronoun you like”.

_ She please. A femine name would be nice. _

“Give me a second”. Kyo would never regret Shelly or Zuzu. That didn’t mean they didn’t want to be more creative now. 

The only name that kept coming up was Shadow.

That wasn’t very creative. 

Luckily, there were translation. “Senka”.

_ Works for me.  _

_ _

  
  



End file.
